Today marks the first step in what we hope will be a productive conference that yields a final bill that is focused on the fundamental reforms President Bush proposed in his No Child Left Behind plan - accountability, flexibility and local control, doing what works and expanding parental options.

Both bills contain those four pillars of reform, but the conferees can use this process to strengthen the accountability mechanisms we need to fulfill the President's promise that no child will be left behind in a failing system of schools. The conferees can also do much to enhance the local control and flexibility elements of the bill, and at the same time exhibit fiscal responsibility, by replacing small and redundant programs within the Education Department with larger and more flexible programs that give states and school districts resources and control. We need to link our resources to reforms and we need to avoid the regulation and red tape we set out to eliminate, so our schools can focus on student achievement rather than government regulations.

I congratulate the conferees on their first meeting and hope that they will work well and swiftly together. I would like to offer particular thanks and encouragement to Chairman John Boehner, Ranking Member George Miller, Chairman Ted Kennedy, and Ranking Member Judd Gregg for their commitment to bringing President Bush a final bill as soon as possible. With a final bill, we can lay the groundwork for reform in America's classrooms as our children come back to school this fall.